Sheng Ya Surprise

halo

Ever since Rich (SCompRacer) brought his Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 Super w/ Tjo Upsampler over and plugged it into my rig I've wanted a tube CDP but I couldn't justify the cost. Thanks to Noel's recent acquisition of a Sheng Ya CD-S10 (link) I've been on the lookout for one ever since. Well, very recently, I found one and it finally arrived the other day.

Let's just say that I'm new to tubes & tube gear so thanks go out to everyone that helped me get my learn on - ScompRacer, F1nut, ND13, Normality, and Peter McAlister (to name a few). The previous owner had been using it with two different types of tubes in it at the same time (a 12au7 and a 6dj8) so I'm guessing it didn't / was told it wouldn't sound too good and that was probably his reason for selling it. It is supposed to use two 6dj8/6922's.

I tried the player with the tubes he sent me first (after removing the NOS RCA Black Plate 12au7 from the weird wire holder in the back - thanks Noel!). The seller sent me one NOS Amperex Bugle Boy 6dj8 loose (packed safely in a box) and one NOS Amperex World Logo 6dj8 which was already installed up front.

It sounded pretty good with the two Amperex's - amazing deep bass extension but so-so on the detail. After a CD or two I shut it down to cool off so I could try out the matched Ei's I got from Triode Electronics (local tv / radio repair - thanks Jesse!).

After I put it all back together I fired it up, waited for the warm up light to stop blinking, and hit play. Right off the bat much more detail than the Amperex's but not as much bass extension. Waaay more detail than the Onix BTW. I kept spinning CD's to let the tubes burn in and about a half hour to an hour later - BOOM. Bass extension up the wazoo and all the detail as well. Holy **** man! I'm returning the Onix asap - thank God for the 30 day trial period!

When I switched from the Rotel amp to the Halo a whole new level of detail and bass extension was revealed. Switching from the Onix to the Sheng Ya did the same thing all over again.

Well, Mr. Wizard, how many levels are there? This is starting to freak me out a little. Every time I made a change to my system I peel back another layer and I get an improvement.

• Rotel separates (RC-972 pre & RB980BX amp) over an Onkyo Integra TX-108 receiver

• R50's to Monitor 10A (Peerless), Monitor 10B (SL2500), Monitor 11 (Peerless)

• IC's - from Monster and AR to AQ Sidewinders and Signal Cable Analog Two's

• RTA 11T (SL2500) to RTA 11T with upgraded crossovers (Solen caps and Mill's resistors) and RDO194-1's

• Rotel RB980BX to Parasound Halo A23

• RTA 15TL (SL3000) to RTA 15TL (RDO198-1)

• 16AWG AR / RadioShack to 10AWG BJC

• Bare walls, windows, and corners to heavy drapes and bass traps

• Kenwood DP-R5070 to Onix XCD-99

• Onix XCD-99 to Sheng Ya CD-S10

My McAlister amp and pre amp will be arriving some time in the near future.

Does it ever end?

ND13

Congrats Victor!!

It'll get better and better as the tubes burn in, I promise.

Now all you need to find is some CRS+s and you'll be all set.

halo

Thanks again for your help with the wire holder Noel. I'm pretty happy with the 15TL's though

F1nut

Victor, glad you like the cdp and Congrats!

When does it end? When one dies.

drew spelts

how much does something like that cost????????

halo

Noel and I got ours on eBay. His was $380 shipped and mine was $390 shipped.

The Kavent CD-731 is the "USA" version of the CD-S10. The last two I saw went for $475 and $500 on Audiogon. The Kavent CD-831 is the new model @ $999 but the cheapest I found it was $839 shipped from Quest for Sound on Audiogon. Vincent is the European name. 900 Euro's from what I've heard.

If you want the new model go here LINK I figured it'd be $500 shipped but it's 220V so you'd need a converter or have someone convert it to run on 110V.

drew spelts

well that does not sound too bad for an awsome CD player..... I would like to know if you recomend it for my rig because I will be playing it through a HK AVR635 But the tube player Idea really interests me. So let me know your thoughts.

drew spelts

Also.... Does HDCD mean High Definition Compact Disk and if so what the heck is that I am looking for an awsome just CD Player.

halo

The HDCD symbol on the player means it also plays HDCD's in addition to reuglar (Redbook) CD's.

Will you notice a difference running it through the H/K? Maybe a very slight difference but I doubt it. As with all things audio the farther up the chain you move the more you notice changes in your rig.

If you find a used one for a good price I'd say snag it as you can upgrade the rest of your components later - besides it'll be better than what you are using now, right?

SCompRacer

I'm glad your search for a CDP came to a great conclusion. Wonder what possessed him to use two different tubes? Adjusting for room acoustics? Hearing problems? Maybe that one looked better in the winder?

I dunno about ending, but a great sounding system will slow your searching. Lack of funds will too. It's like making love in the sand, you don't want to stop, but you have too.

halo

SCompRacer wrote:

I dunno about ending, but a great sounding system will slow your searching. Lack of funds will too.

So will a lack of production from Canada, eh?

ND13

How's it coming along???

Have you tried different tubes yet?

halo

Hey Noel,

It's going very well - better than I expected especially for what I paid. This CDP continues to amaze me!

I've tried Ei's (got noisy so I returned them). Tried some Jan's (green), some mis-matched Amprerex's and I've got some Matsushita's in there right now (thanks Scotty!). So far I like the Jan's the best but the Mat's only have 15 hours so far. I've got Jan's (blue), Brimar (Thanks Ted!), JJ's, and EH to go + the Ei's from Triode. Rolling Along....

SKsolutions

Have you made it back to work yet?

reeltrouble1

Victor,

Sounds like your having fun. No my friend it does not end, how many levels, well, your tasting what higher end audio can be. Very addicting stuff these tones that please the ear.

Enjoy the sets I sent you, give them a good roll, but just trust your ears they will tell you. Seems you have quite a few to choose from.

RT1